What Dual Purpose Chickens Are Good To Eat????

[PandaGirl]

Hello,
I do not have chickens yet, but I am looking for egg layers and meat birds. I want to be able to breed my own meat birds, but am i correct that you can not breed them at home unless they are dual pupose? Also which one would you suggest? Thanks!

 

[EverV]

Hello,
I do not have chickens yet, but I am looking for egg layers and meat birds. I want to be able to breed my own meat birds, but am i correct that you can not breed them at home unless they are dual pupose? Also which one would you suggest? Thanks!

Breeding really heavy meet breeds used in factories probably wouldn't be a good idea, as they'd generally need to be culled for their own happiness (not quite the right word but I think you'll get what I mean) before they reach laying age. If you're also looking for egg layers I'd go for something like an orp (I know, I'm biased, maybe somebody else will have some more suggestions), where they can make good layers as well as meat birds. Dual purpose also would have the bonus that you can breed them yourself and eat any extra cockerels while saving the hens for laying, so that's not a problem. Oh- and !

 

[Molpet]

https://projects.sare.org/project-reports/fnc12-866/
A guy did a study of a few hatchery breeds

 

[CinnaBun]

American Bresse?
https://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/american-bresse.html

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Naked necks and. Cornish bantams

 

[EverV]

A couple other breeds RIRs or Australorps. I think most dual purpose breeds would be fitting as they're bred for both eggs and meat, so it's really personal preference. Tell us which breed(s) you decide!

 

[EverV]

Here's a random site with some ideas: https://pethelpful.com/farm-pets/the-top-10-dual-purpose-chicken-breeds

 

[Mtnboomer]

My Brahmas are delicious. The older birds (6mos+) are excellent soup birds and weigh in at 5lbs at 1 yr (hens) and 8-9lbs (roosters). Fully mature birds can top 10-11lbs or more. These i usually cook the meat off the bone and use it in casseroles, chicken salad, etc. We butcher at 5mos for fryers and roasters when they weigh btw 3-4lbs.
I get almost an egg a day from mid march until june then an egg every other day until sept. I use artificial lightning to ensure 15 hrs of daylight through fall and winter and retain a 1 egg every 3 day avg per hen which for me is about a little more than a dozen a week in winter.
Plus they are very hardy, docile burds that take cold weather in stride. Their large body size does mean that they eat a lot, but i free range those i dont butcher at 5 mos and my feed bill is drastically reduced especially during the warmer months. This year the 17 yr cicada hit. I did not need to refill their feeder once in 6 wks!

 

[B-Goock]

I butcher my excess males which presents a problem in itself just due to their nature. Hatched and raised altogether isn't as much of a problem but sometimes they just refuse to get along. Which occasionally I end up with two freezer camps. Then the feed ratio & amount of time comes into play. Its hard for me to justify 4-5lbs of feed per lb of bird and 6 months of time when I can order meat birds and be close to 2 to 1 feed to meat ratio and done in 8 weeks.

 

[333113]

Livestock Conservancy has a good comparison chart, but it's limited to heritage breeds:
https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/chicken-chart

In my experience, Delawares and Rocks are good layers of large to extra large eggs and make good-sized table birds. Rocks set more often than Delawares, if you want to hatch without an incubator. I grew up with Rocks, mostly barred and partridge, and they were well-behaved with children.